The House in the Square
by Neetyneet
Summary: Hollow Bastion is fraught with danger, and staying inside all day waiting for word from Sora isn't doing Leon any good. Is that the furniture talking to him? If it isn't Yuffie....who is it? Reviews are much appreciated, thank you!
1. Moving Furniture

All Characters Copyright Disney and Square Enix, respectively.

**Chapter One**

'Moving Furniture'

There was little time for visitors. Sora, Donald and Goofy were welcome; goodness, they were expected, but their visits were infrequent and there was never any time to stop and just talk. And Sora…a boy so young, who had so quickly come to match the talent of King Mickey's court jester and Captain of the Guard.

Leon did not long for guests, but perhaps pleasant company and conversation would herald the end of Hollow Bastion's struggle against the forces of darkness. He was alone, with the whirring of computer monitors and the occasional stirring of the bewitched furniture to accompany his thoughts. He sat on the counter and put his boots deliberately on the computer desk. He did it on purpose, to bait Cid. If there was one thing he and Yuffie were good at, it was winding up the grizzly technician. Pitting him against Merlin the wizard and watching them wind each other up was getting to be a fun daily activity. Not that there were many fun daily activities left. One has to suppose that you get your kicks in while you can.

And then the door burst open. Half-expecting to see one of his comrades, Leon swung his legs off of the desk and slipped off the counter, and the door shut itself again. There was nobody there. The door had just opened, but nobody had obviously opened it.

Leon stayed standing, slightly perturbed. The old man had bewitched furniture, yes, but not the front door. That's foolishness at times like these. Anyone – or thing – could walk in, access the computer, disturb the files, steal the rations, challenge the inhabitants… It wouldn't do to have a front door flying about helplessly while Heartless of every shape and form pillaged the group's safe haven. Leon was deeply disturbed. He'd have to take up the matter with Merlin himself. He grunted in disdain. His grunt was replied with a girlish giggle.

Leon's hand flew to his belt. "Yuffie?"

Another giggle.

The blade was out. If it wasn't Yuffie, it wasn't safe. "Yuffie, this is no time to be messing around!" The girl would respond to his curt tones. Surely Yuffie knew better than to mess him around. He placed his hand on the counter, his veins puckering in his wrists as he leant on it to leap solidly over the counter, feet first, landing in the middle of the room. Nothing like a little showmanship to startle an enemy. "All right," Leon cried defiantly, "Show yourself!"

There was yet another burst of giggling, this spat more frantic and higher pitched. Someone else was trying to shush the giggling. It definitely wasn't Yuffie. A book dropped from a shelf to his left. It caught Leon's eye just as it wobbled off the shelf, and it definitely dropped; it did not fly off of its own accord. Leon stared at the offending item, half-expecting it to jump back up again, until his eyes attracted to something on the shelf.

It was a small woman, no more than a foot high. She had an explosion of blonde hair from the top of a headband, and her legs were sprawled out alongside her. She'd obviously kicked the book down by accident. She was looking eerily back at Leon, frozen stiff, almost willing him not to notice her. Leon laughed deep in his throat, and the naiad let out a gasp. Jumping as though a current had surged through her, she straightened up, her orange scarf billowing behind her like wings, cringed obviously, and leapt from the shelf.

"Now you've done it," someone else said in a dark feminine drawl.

The little girl levitated before hitting the floor and surveyed Leon thoughtfully. "So," she squeaked, clapping her hands, "You're Leon?"

Leon was astonished. In his mild irritation, he swiped at the fairie with his free hand, but she merely evaded his gasp. She giggled gleefully, tucked her knees up to her chest and performed a series of aerial backward-rolls. From behind an empty chest in the far corner, another of her kind appeared. This one had a sulky, pointed face and little bat wings sprouting from her shoulder blades. She flitted over to her counterpart and spoke with the drawl Leon had heard seconds ago: "Well…you idiot."

The orange-clad fairie looked upset. "Well, we found him all right. This looks like him!" She circled the bemused Leon, causing his head and upper body to reel as he tried in vain to keep his gaze on her. Before his brain began to register, another naiad appeared from behind his head, wearing what could only be described as half an outfit. She appeared to be flying with the use of her hair, which had been half braided into a long plait that ended at her ankles, and half left swishing around her cherubim face. "Well done, girls!" The trio swirled in the air like oil in water and clapped their hands together. They settled into a formation, the braided one at the middle and the other two flanking her. "We found the one known as "Leon"!"

The black-clad girl cupped her chin in her hand. "He doesn't look very dangerous."

Leon was irritated far beyond the point of reason. "Enough!" His blade was out in seconds and he swung it upwards, scattering the fairies with little cries of "Oooh!" and "Ah!". He swung the blade again in a figure-of-eight and brought it to rest in a defensive stance. The girls flitted about one another. "Oh my. Wow. You _are_ rather impressive!" trilled the orange one. Leon was unsure if she was being sincere or not.

"If you're looking for trouble, you asked for it, big man," taunted bat-wing girl, baring her tiny sharp fists. The other fairy reprimanded her, "Now Paine, that's enough. Rikku, calm down." She gripped the ever-active orange girl by the wrist and brought the formation together again. "Gullwings, reform!" Reformed properly, the girls settled in front of him. He could feel the vein throbbing in his temple. "What," he demanded, his palms beginning to sweat against the hilt of his blade, "Is going on here?" He dropped his stance and extended a finger towards the braided one. She must be the leader of this ridiculous outfit. She backed off slightly as his probing finger approached her middle. "You. Tell me how you know my name."

The girls froze, exchanging quick glances at each other. Suddenly, they all began to talk at once. The jabbering of the little voices did nothing to soothe Leon's annoyance. After a pause, he held his hand up. He pointed at the leader. "YOU tell me." The girls looked at each other in turn, then descended into a circle, arms around each others' shoulders, and began nattering to one another. It was nigh impossible to follow even one voice, for the chattering was so intense in pitch and speed that it gave Leon brainache. Thankfully they withdrew, and said in one voice, "We've come for the treasure!"

Leon blanched. This was ridiculous. The girls were frozen in valiant, floating poses.

"I don't have any treasure."

"WHAT?!" shrieked the orange one, grabbing handfuls of her hair. "No treasure?!"

"I don't have any treasure." Leon repeated in a more sallow tone.

The girls span back into their circle and began to chatter. Leon's shoulders sagged. He had absolutely no tolerance of these teenyboppers. He clicked his dry fingers several times until the girls' attention was attracted to him.

"Who told you my name? Who told you where I was?"

The leader floated towards him and came within about a foot and a half of his face. The other two followed suit. Supposedly this was their method of intimidation. Leon felt as though he were being persecuted by small chirping insects. "Small boy," began the orange girl, "Spiky hair. With a big, gangly dog-" here she imitated the adjectives she was using quite dynamically with her body, "and a duck with a speech impediment and a magic wand."

Leon smirked. She obviously had an eye for character traits and had instantly captured the essence of Sora, Donald and Goofy.

"Why are you smirking?" enquired bat-girl. "Know something we don't?"

Leon batted at the girls in his face, and they scattered into the air. He turned his back on them and folded his arms. The girls rose threateningly over his shoulders. If they were going to irritate him, he could just as well do it right back. He heard the leader groan and felt the horny little fingers tap him roughly on the shoulder. "Well, if you're not going to give us treasure…"

He whipped around to see Paine, the bat-wing girl, holding up a vial of clear water, and Rikku, the orange one, holding a book open and ready to tear out a fistful of its pages.

"…We'll just have to take it!"

Chaos ensued. One girl took to flinging books from the shelves, another caused considerable mayhem by dropping vials and jars of this and that, and the other had oddly reverted to lifting up the floorboards one by one. "Stop!" cried Leon, darting this way and that, grasping clumsily for the fairies which flitted back from his snaking fingers with squeals and giggles. "Stop!" He tried to wrest a book from Rikku.

"Will you give us treasure if we stop?" she cried.

"No!" Leon was exasperated.

"Then we're not stopping!"

Leon was aghast. The furniture seemed to sense something was wrong, and the wardrobe units were rocking from side to side. The teapot was wobbling on the table and the tea plates spinning in disarray. Leon couldn't believe that three tiny women were running rings around him. He had a sudden idea. He was used to the spellbound furniture and its daily routine of shuffling itself around, so maybe it was used to him? He approached the table and, feeling an utter fool, bent down to the distressed, jiggling tea set. "Stop them?" he whispered enquiringly.

In a military manner, the teapot straightened itself up and shot like a porcelain bullet into the air. The tea plates followed like spinning discus. Leon watched in plain amusement as the teapot began to rain cold tea down upon the leader of the fairies, who coughed and spluttered. Pillows flung themselves like comrades to the floor of the house, catching Merlin's vials of precious potion as they were dropped by Paine. Rikku found herself suddenly sandwiched between the pages of a book that she was about to throw. The girls put up quite a fight, and Leon resumed his spot on the counter as fairies and furniture waged all-out war against each other. It was quite entertaining, and he revelled in his triumphant idea.

After a while, the chaos lost its charm. "All right furniture," he cried, carelessly examining the sole of one of his boots, "Bring them over here."

He tried not to laugh as Rikku, Paine and the leader were bought to him; Rikku still trapped inside the book with her head and feet poking out of the ends, Paine trapped feet-first in a small glass jar, and the leader inside a teacup which was covered by a tea plate. He could hear her rattling around inside. Eventually the mirth was too much. He clutched at his sides as the small girls fumed at his insolence.

"So, Gullwings," he said finally, wiping his eye and suddenly feeling the best he had for days, "Where did you hear about my treasure?"


	2. She's Got the Moves

All Characters Copyright Disney and Square Enix, respectively.

**Chapter Two**

'She's Got the Moves'

"Haa…"

Shuriken split the cold, still air. The ninja star hit its target, which exploded with thick black smoke, and disappeared.

Yuffie Kisaragi bent over to retrieve her weapon, keeping a wary eye on her surroundings. She knew she'd pushed her luck coming out on her own, but she was more than enough for the Heartless. Stupid oafish Heartless, stumbling around like the blind, groping in desperation for the hearts of the living.

Yuffie was certainly living. She jumped up and performed a brief twirl in mid-air, tossing her head back with a grin. Her shuriken was back in its belt holster. Just around the corner and she was home free. The soft lights of the town's security system flickered around her like attentive admirers. She ran towards Merlin's house, feeling the wind resist her, pounced on the door and leapt through it to an altogether confusing sight.

Leon was sat at Merlin's table, one leg crossed neatly-and-civilised over the other, and he was laughing. A proper laugh, with his eyes closed and his hair flinging about as though it were alive. There were three impish little girls sat on and about the table. The foursome were nattering as though they had known each other for a lifetime.

Yuffie was in such shock that she dislodged one of her throwing stars. It clattered to the floor. Leon looked up, and the girls gasped. One hid underneath an upturned teacup. "Yuffie!" cried Leon, beckoning his friend. "Come and meet the Gullwings!"

Yuffie hesitated. What in the world was up with Leon? This wasn't the normal, slightly sullen exterior that she had come to know. He was actually laughing. And these little things – where had they come from?

"It's OK," said the orange one, flitting over to her. She was wrapped in a long orange scarf that appeared to bestow her with levitational power. "Say, do you know Sora, Donald and Goofy too?"

"Yes…" began Yuffie. Reluctantly, she moved across to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat herself down, not daring to take her eyes off of the little girl. "Why...do you know them?"

Leon picked up a tea plate and twirled it absent-mindedly in his generous hands. "It seems these three were sent to me on a fool's errand by Sora." Yuffie looked at him, then at the orange girl, then at the black-winged one who was perched upon a stack of books, then finally at the other one, who had an explosion of hair that ended in a little winged braid. "So…" she began. "Who are you again?"

The girls leapt into the air, spinning together. "Paine…" drawled the bat-winged one, inspecting her fingernails.

"Rikku!" cried the orange-scarved one, performing a cartwheel.

"And Yuna!" She span on her toes in the air, her half-skirt billowing out at the knee. "We are the Gullwings!" The three paused for dramatic effect, before forming a triad and striking poses. Yuffie giggled very tentatively.

"We were on a mission…" began Yuna.

"A mission from Maleficent!" squealed Rikku, spinning so that her scarf draped itself almost around her thin shoulders.

Yuffie gasped. "Maleficent? But you…" she stood up, fists on the table, leaning towards Leon. "Don't you realise…" Leon looked at her with mild amusement.

"Oh, we know who she is." Paine seemed satisfied with the state of her fingers and instead gazed at Yuffie from under a lowered brow. "Or at least, we thought we did."

"Biiiiiig trouble," trilled Rikku happily, sliding bottom-first into a teacup.

"But we are Gullwings. Treasure comes first!" trilled Yuna. Her team-mates made noises of consummation. "We have our own agenda."

"We just happened to bump into this Sora character," said Paine, "And he redirected us here."

Yuffie was still as confused as ever. These three, however diminutive, seemed dangerous: cohorts of Maleficent's on a quest for treasure? Having found none on a seemingly defenceless young boy, they come here? What was Leon thinking…

Leon himself spoke. "I was just in the middle of telling these girls about Sora."

Yuffie looked at them all. "You want to know?" she asked. "Firstly, he doesn't have any treasure. And neither do I, come to think of it." She stood up, emptied her pockets, and spun around for the benefit of the three sprites.

"Aw, we know," said Rikku matter-of-factly, waving her hands about coolly. "_He_ told us." She pointed at Leon. Yuna joined Paine on top of the books and turned to face Leon. "So, this Sora…"

"He comes from a faraway land!" Rikku egged him on.

"Quite," said Leon, setting down the tea plate. "Nothing but the clothes on his back left of his home world. Someone…or something's taken his friends away, so he goes looking for them." It was quite a picture. The three girls were quite enthralled by Leon, and as he spoke Yuffie got the feeling he was enjoying the company of three visitors clinging to his every word. This may be just what Leon needed.

She decided to take a chance. She sat down slowly, as if she were afraid of dislodging something. "But he helps everyone he meets," she said, recalling the boy who was never too busy to help a friend. "He'd never say no to someone in need."


End file.
